Hiking – Page 11 – Ken's Photography and Travel Blog

Cold Springs Campground, Colorado – July 2019 – Day 2 Scouting

A previous post referred to the areas that we scouted during our second day at Cold Springs Campground, looking for potential places for more sunset and sunrise photo shoots. This post will present a few of the iPhone shots taken during that scouting with some comments.

A dead tree near Smith Lake Trail, Routt National Forest, Colorado. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

This striking looking dead tree trunk, spotted along the Smith Lake Trail, looks like a good photographic subject, but it was so tall one would have to have a really wide field of view of shoot upwards from near its base to fully capture it. We never got around to trying to shoot this properly.

A wilderness boundary marker along Smith Lake Trail. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Efex Pro 4.

This boundary marker has nothing to do with photography, I just thought it interesting to see this marker. Someone, wondering around in the forest, not hiking along a trail, would never know when entering or leaving a designated wilderness area.

Smith Lake in the Flat Tops Wilderness, Colorado. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

This view of a mountainside with Smith Lake in the foreground, suggested that early morning light would make this a good place for a sunrise shoot.

Smith Lake Panorama. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

A panoramic view of Smith Lake and the mountain in the background, suggests possible multiple compositional possibilities.

Columbines and fallen tree. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

I found this batch of Columbines down the slope from the roadway south of the campground. (Click on the photo to view on Flickr).

Approaching storm. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

Looking up the hillside south of the campground, it was apparent that it was time to return to the camp before getting caught in a storm. However, after getting to the Sportsmobile, I did take a chance and try to shoot at a field of Columbines, but I had to beat a hasty retreat again as the storm came in.

Near the end of the storm. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

As the storm began to subside, a double rainbow appeared to the east of the campsite. The complete semicircle rainbow was visible at one time, but I could not get a shot of it with my iPhone. One can see sunlight from the west striking the mountainside in the lower left, so as long as the storm clouds, which were moving westward, did not obscure the sunset, we would get good after the storm light.

Possible good indication for sunset light after the storm. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

A fuller view of the sun lite mountainside south east of the campsite as the storm passed, gave us some hope of getting sunset light on the mountainside.

A subsequent post will cover the actual sunset shoot after the storm.

Ken

Bisti May 2019 – Day 1 Scouting – Part 2

I explored mostly along a route towards, around and past features known as the “Conversing Hoodoos” during my first scouting outing in the north portion of the Bisti Wilderness. Note that a few of the features in the images here were first seen by my son and I during our March scouting of this area; but we had scouted in much less of an organized manner and I wanted to record more precisely the locations of places to which I would return to photograph in better light conditions.

Bisti_May25_2019_ScoutingPhoto — “Conversing Hoodoos” iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

There are numerous canyons or washes throughout Bisti. The Conversing Hoodoos are near a junction of a couple of these canyons. These were to be my first features to photograph later and I wanted to check out various angles from which these might be photographed and whether they were best photographed at sunset or sunrise of if both sunrise and sunset would work well. There are many other interesting features near these and in nearby canyons or along the canyon walls.

I called the small hoodoo on the top of this hill “Jack Rabbit”, because it looks like a rabbit when viewed in a particular manner. This feature is just a little past the Conversing Hoodoos.

The Jack Rabbit hoodoo is difficult to photograph due to its location. A long zoom might be better for shooting this feature than either a wide angle or a moderate zoom.

Near the entrance into a canyon just past the Conversing Hoodoos is this pointy feature that was obviously the base for a hoodoo at one time, but the cap or head has fallen off.

There are many interesting features and emerging hoodoos in the Bisti canyon walls. These can be difficult to isolate for interesting photographs and their locations often limit the golden hour light with many being in shadows, when the light would be good otherwise.

I continued walking through a canyon just to the east side of the Conversing Hoodoos, finding many interesting features both in the canyon and along the canyon walls.

I made a number of images of one particular hoodoo to illustrate how these can look so much different depending upon the angle of view.

From these two perspectives, this looks like a gecko; but others might imagine something else.

Continuing along the canyon, I found a feature that I referred to as “Big Mouth”.

Later in the day, while having a conversation in the parking lot with a group from a local mission, one asked if I had seen the “Clam”. I knew immediately that they were referring to this one that I had been calling “Big Mouth”.

Another view of the Clam and other nearby features in this canyon.

I’m always amazed when I find man made objects such as these in places where one would not expect to see such thing. These appear to be automotive engine parts, but there is not anything nearby to suggest how these arrived here. I assume these must have been dumped here many years ago before this area was designated a protected wilderness.

To be continued…

Ken

Bisti – May 2019 – Arrival and Day 1 Scouting – Part 1

After having scouted some of the northern part of the Bisti Wilderness in New Mexico during my March 2019 visit, but not having time during that visit to photograph in that portion of Bisti, I wanted to go back and spend more time on the north end and I wanted to go before the hot weather of summer set in. For various reasons, I had delayed going back, but I finally set out in late May. Since I was eager to get there, knowing that leaving on a Friday would maybe present problems with finding a suitable and available stop over place and staying over on a Friday would result in arriving on a weekend, which tends to be a busy time for visitors, I decided to drive straight through (about a 12.5 hour drive, according to mapping software). With stops for fuel, food and to take time to walk around at rest breaks, I figured it would take 14-15 hours to get to Bisti. I had intended to leave home around 7AM and anticipated arriving at Bisti around 9-10PM and with total darkness not arriving before about 9PM, I would not have to drive for very long in the dark. However, as usual, I got away from home a little latter than the plan, so I arrived closer to 10PM than 9PM and it was already totally dark, when I arrived at the dirt road entry to the unofficial North Bisti parking area.

As I pulled off of NM 371 in total darkness, the dirt road looked different than I remembered. I had not been there in total darkness previously. Thinking more light would let me verify my location, I switched on both the upper and lower LED light bars, which are really bright. Even with that much light, initially I could not be sure that I was in the right place and I did not want to drive into the wrong area, so I consulted my iPhone map, which seemed to confirm that I was in the correct location. Nevertheless, I proceeded with caution. As I drove along, I began to feel more confident, as I recognized features from the March visit here.

As I turned past the bluff behind which was the large, open parking area, I saw a truck and an RV trailer in the distance. Not wanting to be a nuisance with my bright lights, I stopped at the edge of the parking area and switched off the LED light bars, made sure the regular vehicle lights were in low beam, then parked a respectable distance from the RV and truck. (For some reason, people coming into such areas like to park adjacent to others, even when there is much space available).

I walked around my vehicle with a flashlight to verify that there was no problem with my parking area. I noted how dark it was there and I marveled at the infinitely many stars in the sky. Seeing a campfire near the RV, I walked over to say hello and to be sure whoever were there were satisfied that I had not parked too close to their camp. (I must have been about 30 or so yards away, but I had plenty of space to move away more). As I approached their campfire, hailing whoever was there, and I got close enough, I saw one person sitting by the campfire, then another came out of the truck or trailer. The one by the campfire was a youngish man from Denver and the other an older man from Oregon. They confirmed that they had no problem with where I parked, then the older one said, “That is quite the light arrangement you have”. To which the younger one added, “I thought I was being abducted by aliens”. So it is good that I turned the lights off, when I did, rather than leaving them on until I parked!

I saw them again from a distance in the morning, but I never visited with them again, since they left sometime the next day, while I was out in the Wilderness.

My original plan for the first morning was to go out for sunrise photos, but since I was getting to bed after 11PM, had slept only 5-6 hours the night before, I would not get more than 5 hours sleep this night, if I got up early for sunrise and I had no definite route planned to get to a destination for sunrise, I decided it best to sleep in and scout the area first, rather than wander around in the early morning darkness.

So the first morning, after coffee and breakfast, I installed the solar panels, then went scouting, adding more GPS waypoints and shooting iPhone scouting photos. This is a really remarkable place to explore. There seems to be no end to interesting features, geology and photographic opportunities.

Sportsmobile in the Bisti North Parking Lot — The “unofficial” north Bisti parking area. iPhone photo.

As I was installing the solar panels, a passenger type van with a sign on the side that I could not make out, passed by and parked near the corner of the fence line at the border of the Bisti wilderness area. A number of young people got out and I assumed it might be a geological field trip, maybe from a university. I anticipated encountering that group later, during my scouting of the area, but I never saw them again and the van was gone when I returned from my scouting walk about.

Twin Peaks — Petrified tree stump with twin peaks landmark in the background. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

As I returned from scouting the area, I frequently stopped to look around and behind me to get a feel of the area and to make mental notes of landmarks. I did not encounter anyone during my walk about, but at one point, I saw a group of people on an elevated area in the distance. I assumed that they must have come from the official south parking area, which is the most popular place for visitors.

This rock ridge image illustrates the “leading line” technique in photography, with the line of rocks leading the eye through the photograph. (Click on the photo to view on Flickr).

Headless Hoodoos with a Native American house in far background. The house makes a good navigation landmark, which can be seen from far away. iPhone photo.

I was alone in the parking area, much of the day, but others began to arrive in the afternoon, going out and returning well before sunset. I noted some were crossing the fence line near the corner and walking directly into the wilderness, rather than going to the south end of the parking area, where there was no fence at a drainage crossing, which I had been using. When I saw one such group returning to their vehicle in the afternoon, I approached them and asked about the route they were taking into Bisti. They assured me it was a good direct route with easy crossings of the deep drainage. They were all from a local mission and offered much advise on the area, including where to get water locally, rather than driving 45 miles into Farmington. One of them was a Navaho, but he did not look like a Native American, and he had lived in the area for 37+ years.

Crossing the fence line near where I parked would save a quarter mile (one way) walk across the parking area and maybe another 1/4 to 1/2 mile (one way) of walking otherwise. I found that walking directly east along the fence line led to a very easy place to get into the drainage, then I only had to walk a few yards along the drainage to an easy exit. So I am very glad that I watched and learned from other local visitors.

I shot so many photos during this scouting session that I will break this post into multiples with more frequent posts. Hopefully, the frequency of these posts will not be too much for you.

Ken

Cold Springs Campground – Day 2 – Sunrise Photography

In the morning of July 13 we shot sunrise photos just east of the lake at Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest. We began shooting from a hillside just east of the lake.

Coldsprings Camping Area, Routt NF, CO — An area adjacent to the Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 2s, ISO

I thought that the weathered tree stump made an appropriate foreground object here.

Coldsprings Campground — Cold Springs Campground Scene. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 0.8s, ISO 64.

The lake made a great mirror, reflecting the clouds in the sky and the trees along the edge of the campground. None of the other campers were up and about yet. We tried to be as quiet as we could so as not to disturb them.

I put the weathered stump and a taller stump with slight side lighting at the edge of this photo.

After shooting on the hillside, we moved down into the meadow at the base of the cascade. There were lots of white and blue wildflowers in the meadow, especially around the cascade and stream. The area below the cascade was wet and marshy, which I had not anticipated and I was not wearing my water resistant hiking shoes. My shoes, socks and feet got soaked with cold water.

Water Cascade, Coldsprings Campground, Routt NF, CO — A mountain stream cascade in the area adjacent to Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1.6s, ISO 64.

As you can see, I got multiple compositions of the cascade with varying amounts of the surroundings. I used slow shutter speeds to get the silky effect of the flowing water. There was not much wind, but there was enough motion in the vegetation to keep from getting really sharp images of the wildflowers. I tried to make the images at times when the wind was most calm in hopes of getting sharper images. This works with only limited success.

After breakfast, I hiked to the marshy area above the cascade, where there were many wildflowers in another meadow around the stream. By the time I got there the clouds were mostly gone, the light harsh, still a little too much wind and many swarming mosquitoes. I tried a few shots anyway, but those were not presentable. Somewhere in there, I apparently lost my Rocket Blower, which I had just put into a pocket for convenience, rather than take it along in my backpack, which I left behind in the vehicle. (For non-photographers, a Rocket Blower is a device for blowing dust off of lenses, filters and camera sensors. This is an essential piece of gear, in my opinion, so I have since acquired another one. For the rest of this trip, I had to borrow my son’s whenever I needed it).

Later in the morning we walked 10 minutes down the road to Smith Lake Trailhead. Smith Lake Trail is only 0.7 miles, steep in a few places, mostly near the start, but mostly an easy trail. We hiked to Smith Lake and decided to return the next morning for sunrise photography.

On the way to Smith Lake Trailhead, we noted a small field of Columbines, which would possibly be good for foreground shots at sunset, assuming the clouds cleared by that time, as it had gotten much cloudier and rained lightly off and on during the day.

We also walked back to the reservoir, hiking a short distance along one of the two trails starting at the reservoir. We turned back as lightning and thunder got closer and more active. It only sprinkled lightly and we took time to explore more in the area south of the roadway, along the stream from the reservoir.

That is it for this post. Stay tuned for the sunset shoot results,

Ken

Spring 2019 Road Trip – Bisti – Day 7 – Scouting

Midday of day 7, and our final day in Bisti, my son and I returned to the north area of Bisti to explore and scout potential areas to return to later.

Day 7 March2019 Bisti North Scouting — Petrified tree stumps in north Bisti iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

We found these large petrified tree stumps in the broad wash area that we have to cross on our way into this area.

Here is another petrified tree stump we found.

And a view from the top side of the stump reveals more color from mineralization and lichen.

My son seems to have found the magic spot beneath the big X in the sky.

I had GPS coordinates for features someone labeled “Conversing Hoodoos”. I had not seen photos of these, so I had no idea what they would look like; but upon finding them, it was obvious why these were so named.

In the same general area as the conversing hoodoos are

other large wing like hoodoos.

More large wing like hoodoos that we saw in this area are in the photo above.

When the wing like feature above is view at just the right angle, it has a jack rabbit like appearance, hence my calling it “Jack Rabbit Hoodoo”. This feature is in the vicinity of the Conversing Hoodoos.

The large wing like hoodoo features in the photo above are, also, nearby the conversing hoodoos.

My son walks past one of the rock features on the north side in the above photo. Note how far one can see from an upper elevation in Bisti. This is very helpful, when navigating this area. There are landmarks that one can see from miles away from higher elevations, such as this, and use those landmarks to navigate by.

Although, we found many interesting places for photography on the north side of Bisti, we did not have time to get back to this area for either sunrise or sunset photography during this visit. I returned to this area the last week of May, 2019 and spent many hours photographing and wandering this area. That visit will be the subject of more blog posts in the future.

Until next time,

Ken

Spring 2019 Road Trip – Bisti – Day 6 Scouting

On day 6 in Bisti my son and I went to the unofficial north parking area for access to the northern portion of Bisti Wilderness. Neither of us had previously been to this portion of Bisti, so we were truly exploring. I had GPS coordinates to a few of the northern features that I had gleaned from online research, but rather than heading towards any of my GPS coordinates, we just wandered around on an exploration hike today.

Shortly after crossing the deep drainage at one end of the parking lot, we found an abandoned well.

Day 4 March2019 Scout @ North Bisti — North Bisti area scouting photo iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

This well is not very deep, but it would not be good to fall into this, while hiking in the dark, as we usually do in the early morning on our way out for sunrise photos and in the evening on our way back from sunset photography.

Continuing to follow the broad open wash/valley area, we could see features on the top of hills in the distance, so we headed towards those.

Day 6 March2019 Scout @ North Bisti — North Bisti area scouting photo iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

From a distance, the features above looked like three distinct hoodoos, so I nicknamed these the Hoodoo Trio. On a subsequent visit to this area in May (more photos and blogs from that visit will be posted later in the summer or early fall), I used these features as primary navigation points to and from destinations in this area.

That is my son hiking near this hoodoo navigation beacon.

Hiking in a wash on the west side of the Hoodoo Trio, we eventually worked our way up to a plateau area, encountering a Hoodoo rich area that we called the “Valley of Hoodoos”. The photo above is near our exit point from the valley onto the plateau. (During my May visit here, I found an easier way to get to this area and also a short cut to get from this plateau back to the north parking area).

Day 6 North Side Scouting — Multiple exits from this valley/wash are possible iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

If my memory serves me well, I think we exited this valley at the blue arrow, hiking up through the Valley of Hoodoos onto the plateau. In May, I found it easier to follow the wash along the left side of the photo, exiting at the green arrow. There is one big step up on the green arrow route on the way out, then a big step down, when returning on this route. Other than that big step it is an easy route.

After exiting the Valley of Hoodoos we very soon came to this “Red Rock Garden” area. Walking through the rock garden, we found many interesting features, some of which, I recognized from our first visit to Bisti in 2011. At that time, we came from the south parking area; but it is much easier and quicker to get to this portion of Bisti from the unofficial north parking area.

The features in the above photo are on the plateau, just over a hill from the rock garden. My son named the hoodoo in the foreground here the Tongue Hoodoo. I think it is obvious how he came up with that name. I think the other large hoodoo in the left background is one that someone called The Pedestal.

A wing like hoodoo with a hole in it is shown above.

The same hoodoo with the hole, but from the top side. Holes in such rocks seem to be common here.

Just to the south of this area, we came to a very deep drainage, on the other side of which were other interesting features, but we did not see an easy way down into that drainage. We did see someone photographing features in the drainage and he motioned towards an access point, but we were running out of time on this scouting trip, so we did not attempt to find our way down, deciding it best to head back.

We came back to scout more in this area on our last day here and I will blog about that in a subsequent post.

Ken

Spring 2019 Road Trip – Bisti – Day 4 – Scouting Photos

During the mid-day hours of day 4 in Bisti, my son and I scouted in the northern area of Bisti. The unofficial parking area for access to this area is several miles north of the official south parking lot and it is on Navaho land.

A short distance along the dirt road access to the “unofficial” parking area is another spur road going south. This road leads to a rocky drainage crossing, which can be made with a high clearance vehicle and maybe best with a 4 wheel drive. We decided not to drive across the drainage or to drive all the way to it, since the dirt road had much broken glass on it. It appears that this area might have been a dumping site for trash at one time.

We hiked across the drainage and towards hills and rocky features a few tenths of a mile in the distance. There we discovered interesting features. We think this area is on BLM land, outside Bisti proper, but maybe some of it is on Navaho land. Where we parked is probably on Navaho land.

Although, there are interesting photographic subjects in this area, note the human infrastructure items along the horizon, which will present problems getting compositions that exclude those structures.

Another view of the area in the previous photo is presented above. Note the two steel items. We have no idea what these were used for nor why they are here at this location. It appears that they were designed to lift or hold something. These will present some compositional problems.

A close up view of one of those mysterious steel items is shown above.

The portion of a weathered, petrified log shown above is near the previously photographed features. There is much petrified wood in the Bisti Wilderness, so apparently this was a lush forest area many years ago.

Another portion of a petrified log with scattered pieces of weather petrified wood around it. This is very common in this area.

The photo above puts the petrified long into context with the other local features here.

One possible composition that eliminates the nearby human infrastructure is shown here.

Another interesting looking hoodoo in this area is shown above. Big mouth rock?

I named the hoodoo above “Snail Rock” for obvious reason.

Another view of “Snail Rock” is above.

More petrified wood protruding from the ground.

A small bridge formed by harder rock overlaying softer, faster eroding rock is shown in the photo above. Such features are common in Bisti.

I will have more scouting information for Bisti North proper in a subsequent post.

[Note: None of these scouting photos are posted on Flickr].

Until next time,

Ken

Guadalupe Mountains National Park – Spring 2019 – Day 2 – Sunset Photos

After scouting about a mile along the Tejas trail earlier in the day, I went out again late in the day, planning to be near the far end of my scouting hike to get a shot of the most prominent feature on the mountainside east of the trail. After arriving at that point on the trail, I very soon realized that the sunlight was not going to illuminate that feature as I had hoped. Only a small portion of the intended subject would be highlighted with most of it being in shadow. So I began hastily backtracking down the trail to check out other possibilities. The next pre-scouted site that I attempted did not work out either, so I continued back along the trail.

I arrived at another pre-scouted site that looked more promising and proceeded to make a number of shots, none of which were greatly impressive. However, I managed to get one that I could edit and make look presentable.

A late afternoon scene along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom, DXO Nik Viveza 2 and Color Efex Pro 4.

There was good light on the mountainside, but the shadows were quickly encroaching upon the scene. If not for motion in the vegetation, I could have tried creating an HDR image or stacked a number of images. In this image I applied color, contrast, brightness and structure adjustments in DXO Nik software via numerous control points. Then more adjustments in DXO Nik Color Efex Pro 4. I added a vignette frame around the edges to eliminate an obvious vignette in one corner of the original image that was caused by my filter holder.

Moving a bit more back down the trail, I stopped to shoot in another location, before the light disappeared completely. Again I had to make a number of exposures, trying to balance the shadows and highlight, but none came out really well and HDR was, again, not an option.

Late day sunlight along a mountain top in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 42mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom, DXO Nik Viveza 2 and Color Efex Pro 4.

One can see how far the shadows have moved up the mountainside in just a short time interval. This image is edited in a very similar fashion to the previous one. I could have brought out more detail in the shadows, but chose not to do so in this case.

I tried a few more shots as I moved back down the trail, but none worked out very well. The evening was pleasant and there was a full or near full moon that evening, so the walk back to the RV parking lot was quite pleasant and well lit by moonlight, so I did not have to get out my headlamp.

This photo shoot did not turn out as well as I had hoped, but at least I got a couple of reasonable images and had a pleasant moonlight hike back along the trail.

I had picked out a few possible places for sunrise shots the following and last morning of my visit, but none of those were really appealing, so I decided to forego getting up early for a morning shoot and get an earlier start on the road to the next destination.

This park has much more to see than I had time to get to. In particular, McKittrick Canyon is reportedly very nice in the fall, so maybe I can make another visit one fall. I would also like to get into the gypsum dunes in the Salt Basin. So I really need to find time to plan another visit.

Ken

2019 Spring Trip – Guadalupe Mountains National Park – Day 2 – Part 1 – Scouting Photos

After a strenuous previous day and getting to bed late with no firm plans for where to go for early morning photos, I decided to sleep in a bit and scout the area again during the morning and afternoon for possible locations for sunset photos.

After breakfast, I walked the trail to the visitor center looking around for possible photo locations along the way. Since I had hiked a substantial portion of the Guadalupe Peak Trail the previous day, I figured that I had earned the right to purchase and display a pin from the park in my collection, so I picked up the pin and inquired about the road into the Salt Basin, hoping to get time to visit the gypsum sand dunes in the western portion of the park. No one there had any update on the condition of the long clay road into that portion of the park. After thinking about this, I decided against attempting to get into the Salt Basin on this trip. I only had that afternoon and the next morning to spend in the park and the Salt Basin area is a day use area only, meaning no overnight camping or parking there. For sunrise photos, I would have to get up early the next morning and drive quite a way to get to the access road and then there was no way to know if I would be able to drive the last portion of the road and I would have no idea of where to go, anyway. For sunset photos, I ran the risk of losing my already paid for second night in the RV site, where the slots are on a first come basis; but there seemed to be no way to show that a site was already taken, if no vehicle was parked there. This eliminated the gypsum dunes for sunset photos.

Upon returning to my vehicle, I decided to check out the Tejas Trail from which I thought I might be able to get late day shots with golden hour light as I had observed it the previous evening on the mountainside to the east of the trail.

The lower portion of the Tejas Trail is much easier than the Guadalupe Peak Trail. Again I hiked with only my Camelbak with water, snacks, GPS (for safety and for recording waypoints at possible photo sites) and iPhone. I looked for possible photo sites along the trail, making a number of iPhone scouting shots. These shots were all taken around mid-day to early afternoon, so the light was harsh with the sun almost directly overhead, so there were not even any shadows to give the photos depth.

I am presenting a few of those scouting photos in this post with comments regarding the ideas for later DSLR images and some notes on editing photos.

Someone from McAllen, TX left this mark on a tree along the Tejas Trail in Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo

This first image is an example of what is seen much too often and illustrates what one should not do in our national parks. Someone just could not resist defacing one of the trees along the trail.

An old tree trunk with highlights along the Tejas Trail in Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo

Even with mid-day light, it is sometimes possible to get interesting images. The one above is a portion of a gnarly, weathered, fallen tree, mostly in the shade of another tree with sunlight dappling across it. This is a jpeg image, so the editing is limited; but I’ve tweaked it a bit in Adobe Lightroom, then applied additional editing in DXO Nik software. I typically like to add several filters in Color Efex Pro 4, depending upon the photo, with a slight touch of brilliance, detail extraction, sometimes a graduated neutral density and a slight skylight filter. One has to be careful not to over do it with these filters. Sometimes, I will note that a favorite filter is just too much and I either have to tone it down or eliminate it.

A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo

I hoped to get sunset light on the features in the mountain side, but I also needed something in the foreground and/or framing objects. So I experimented with these concepts as I walked along the trail. I applied a little lens fall off vignetting in the above image to tone down some of the unattractive foreground and to reduce the plain sky.

A scouting photo along Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo

Another foreground/framing possibility is illustrated here. Again, I used a little lens fall off vignetting to reduce the foreground clutter and to add a focusing effect into the image.

The image above has a vignetting filter, that I do not often use, applied in Nik Color Efex Pro 4. I thought it worth experimenting with in these flat, bland photos. I think this one serves quite well in this case. It tones down the foreground clutter, reduces the plain sky and focuses on the main subject.

I kept hiking along the trail, trying to get closer to this particular feature on the mountainside, hoping to find a good vantage point to photograph it later in the day. Here, again, I’ve added vignetting to reduce the foreground clutter and focus the eye on the main subject.

The boulder in the lower right anchors the foreground in this image and I think with it located diagonally from the peak in the upper left, helps to give this image some depth and visual tension. Vignetting is used again to reduce the unattractive clutter around the edges and guides the eye into the image. The vignette center can be moved and in this case, it has been moved slightly to the left.

This is just an experiment with a monochrome version of the previous image. Sometimes harsh light images can be more appealing images in monochrome. In this case, the lack of shadows results in too flat an image to be interesting.

Just another experimental foreground for the prominent feature in the mountainside. The Cholla is weathered and not very attractive; but there is at least a hint of clouds developing in the sky.

Ah, if I could find this at sunset, I think I would get a good image!

Stay tuned for the late day results,

Ken

Guadalupe Mountains National Park – Part 1

The second destination in my Spring 2019 road trip was Guadalupe Mountains National Park (GUMO). According to my map, the travel time to GUMO from the Sandhills via the shortest route should be about 2.5 hours. However, a backup due to road construction on US 285, just past a signal light at my turn off from US 285, resulted in an hour delay. The longer routes would probably have been faster, but I did not double check the traffic before I set out. My bad!

Guadalupe Mountains rising from the plains of West Texas. This is an iPhone photo taken from miles away from the mountains.

In the above photo the sharp drop off on the left end of the mountain range is a feature referred to as El Capitan.

After getting to GUMO, setting up in the RV parking lot and having a brief lunch, it was around 3PM. Since I had never visited here, I did not have any idea about where to go for sunset photos. After reviewing the trails and information on those trails, I decided to take the Guadalupe Peak Trail, but not to take my camera gear. It was overcast, so the prospects for good sunset light was slim and I knew the heavy camera gear would really slow my pace on the trail.

This trail is around 8-9 miles round trip, rated strenuous and the literature said to allow 6 to 8 hours for the round trip. By the time I made my preparations for the hike, it was well after 3PM. So even if I could make the round trip in only 6 hours (doubtful), it would be after 9PM and dark before I made it back. I took my headlamp and an extra flashlight and extra batteries, just in case, but I knew it was not a good idea to be on this trail in the dark.

Shortly after getting underway on the trail, I realized that not bringing the camera gear was a good decision. There are very strenuous portions of this trail, it is mostly steep with considerable rocky portions requiring care in hiking. As I met hikers coming down and heard their comments, I really began to realize that I would probably not make it to the top, if I expected to get back down before dark.

This image illustrates why this trail is rated as “strenuous”. (iPhone Photo)

The weather was good for this hike, since it was cool and overcast. Even so, I quickly worked up a sweat, hiking with only a shirt and t-shirt on my upper body. I had put a fleece, gloves and windbreaker in my backpack, since I knew it would be cold somewhere along the trail. Indeed, in some windy portions it got quite cool with even a light snow off and on; but the effort going up the trail kept me warm.

If only I had a mount from which to dismount. iPhone Photo

As I progressed and became hungry, I realized that I had forgotten to put my trail bar snacks into my day pack. Fortunately, I had a full reservoir of water in my Camelbak. Otherwise, I would have had to turn around. Wanting to go as far as possible, I pushed on and I was able to ignore the hunger and my decreasing energy level.

A portion of the cliffs past which equestrians were to lead their horses. iPhone Photo

The haze in the distance of the photo above is actually a light snow.

As I neared the upper portion of the trail, I even began to think that I might actually make it to the top. However, as it passed 6PM, even though thinking I only had about 30 minutes more to hike to the top, I decided it was best to turn back or I would surely be hiking down in the dark.

Elevation profile for Guadalupe Peak Trail

I went some distance past the campground, so maybe I was only a few hundred feet below the peak, when I decided to turn around. It was disappointing to be so close and have to stop before reaching the peak. I just needed to have started about an hour earlier in the day.

I think this is where I decided to head back down the trail. iPhone photo

This is at or near the point on this trail, where I decided to turn back to avoid being on this rugged trail in the dark. The trail goes from the lower right corner down around the scrubby vegetation. iPhone Photo

This is a view from just below my turn around point on Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo

A cloudy, cool day for a hike on Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo

The feature on the mountain side at the upper right-center of the above photo is El Capitan.

Since the trip back was mostly steeply downhill, I was able to make much better time than I had expected. I was almost sure that I would have to stop and put on the fleece at some point, but I never wanted to stop long enough to do that. Even had I put the fleece on, I would have had to stop and take it off as I got back to lower elevation.

A view on the way back down Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo

There is at least one trail visible along the mountain side in this photo. I think the one in the center is the Tejas Trail.

On the way down, I had to frequently remind myself to slow down on the more treacherous portions of the trail. There were plenty of places with tripping or sliding hazards. I was making such good time on the way down that I passed a few people that I had met on the way up as they were coming down.

Sunset glow on a peak across the wash from Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo

The golden hour light in the above photo is what I looked forward to finding the following day.

Golden Hour Glow in Guadalupe Mountains. iPhone Photo

A zoomed in, noisy iPhone photo of the late day light on a peak opposite my route on Guadalupe Peak Trail is above.

A Scene from a lower portion of Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo

I was greeted by a nice sunset scene over the plains from the lower portion of the Guadalupe Peak Trail.

I made it back to the RV lot just after dark, with sore, sensitive, achy feet, a strong appetite and no plan for where to go the following morning. I had been on the trail for about 5 hours, so I think I would have made it to the peak and back before dark, if I had started up the trail just an hour earlier.

Until next time,

Ken

Tag: Hiking

Cold Springs Campground, Colorado – July 2019 – Day 2 Scouting

Like this:

Bisti May 2019 – Day 1 Scouting – Part 2

Like this:

Bisti – May 2019 – Arrival and Day 1 Scouting – Part 1

Like this:

Cold Springs Campground – Day 2 – Sunrise Photography

Like this:

Spring 2019 Road Trip – Bisti – Day 7 – Scouting

Like this:

Spring 2019 Road Trip – Bisti – Day 6 Scouting

Like this:

Spring 2019 Road Trip – Bisti – Day 4 – Scouting Photos

Like this:

Guadalupe Mountains National Park – Spring 2019 – Day 2 – Sunset Photos

Like this:

2019 Spring Trip – Guadalupe Mountains National Park – Day 2 – Part 1 – Scouting Photos

Like this:

Guadalupe Mountains National Park – Part 1

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: